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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29079237">a stroke of luck</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittylovesbambi/pseuds/kittylovesbambi'>kittylovesbambi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mr Queen, Queen Cheorin, 철인왕후 | Mr. Queen (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:35:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,823</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29079237</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittylovesbambi/pseuds/kittylovesbambi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>soyong has an outing in the market and decides to try her luck at gambling. </p><p>AU where wonbeom was never enthroned and soyong destresses by running amok as lee saeng mang</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Shin Hyesun/Kim Junghyun | Mr Queen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a stroke of luck</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>based on prompt by twitter user @_chocowooyoo: https://twitter.com/_chocowooyoo/status/1353748042608873483</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The man's hands are quick, but her eyes are faster. Her gaze stops on the middle cup when he finishes shuffling.</p><p>Hm, amateur, she smirks.</p><p>She confidently pulls out a pouch full of jewelry and accessories from her sleeve and throws it on the table.</p><p>"All in. The middle one."</p><p>The man across her starts sweating, as if on cue. She probably would have noticed something fishy, if she had not been so confident in her choice. But she was, so the sight of him fretting only made her more smug.</p><p>"A-are you sure?" he stammers, his presumed inexperience on the streets written a tad too clearly on his face, vocal intonation slow and clumsy, not dissimilar to how storytellers embody Ondal in the retelling of his legend, but less exaggerated and more natural.</p><p>Like an <em>actual</em> fool, she chuckles.</p><p>"The middle one." She slams a hand on the table and leans in like a shark smelling blood. "Open it."</p><p>By the time she notices how the corner of his lip twitches upwards at her confirmation, it was too late.</p><p>"It's not here," he announces in flourish, a magician's successful presentation of his trick.</p><p>In disbelief, she stares wide-eyed at the empty cup, the feeling in her chest akin to a kettle on a stove. Her gaze snaps up and meets his eyes, bright and amused, the feigned dullness completely gone.</p><p>The kettle screams.</p><p>She slams both hands on his and pins them down on the table as he tries to pocket the winnings and collides with the table hard with her body, knocking the other 2 cups over.</p><p>Empty.</p><p>"You cheater," she growled.</p><hr/><p>Oh shit, Wonbeom thinks, the look of panic on his face now genuine. Time to run.</p><p>He jerks his hand out of the man's grip and hightails down the crowded street. He turns back every few steps to ensure a healthy distance between himself and his pursuer, not that the latter is by any means stealthy considering the choice words he is screaming at him, undeterred by the scandalised expressions of the passer-bys. Feeling awfully embarrassed by the spectacle they are causing, Wonbeom sends looks of apology to the people around him as he pushes his way through, mouthing "i'm sorry"s to parents who hurry to cover their children's ears as his pursuer's language becomes increasingly colourful.</p><p>He eventually loses his chaser though, as he ducks into a small alley and out again on the other side into the main street. He quickly squats and hides behind a nearby food stand owned by an auntie who he curry favours with on a regular basis with endless praises about her cooking and beauty. He throws one more look at the exit of the alleyway to make sure that his pursuer has not followed him through before he settles down to check his loot.</p><p>The pouch is a delicate piece of work, high-grade woven silk with an exquisite embroidery of wispy branches of pink blossoms spreading out from the bottom left corner on one side. Weighing it in his hand, he smirks. The pouch itself and the coins inside would be well worth at least half a year of grain for his students. </p><p>Satisfied, he tosses it lightly in the air.</p><p>It lands back in his palm, flower embroidery side down. </p><p>On the other side, he notices a row of hanja sewn at the corner. The first hanja clearly visible, the rest hidden around the corner as the cloth of the pouch folds itself around the heft amount of coins inside.  </p><p>
  <em>"Kim"</em>
</p><p>His eyes widen in disbelief, he leans down to get a better look and tilts the pouch to see the full row of hanja, hoping he has somehow got it wrong. </p><p>
  <em>"Kim So Yong."</em>
</p><p>What the hell.</p><hr/><p>"I know how to beat the hell out of a wild dog when I see one so you better run with your tails tucked between your legs while you can."</p><p>Never mind the wild dogs she has seen before are all scrawny and docile enough to eat out of her hand, desperate times call for desperate measures and while Soyong can't possibly match up to three guys each twice her size, she knows how to bluff as if she's ten times her worth. </p><p>As the scammer ran into a deserted alleyway, she should have noticed something was up. These bandits are probably in cahoots with him, trying to rob her of every last penny before making a run for it. They appeared from the corner while her focus was still fixed on the man she was chasing, and backed her up against the wall, laughing at how rich men are always foolishly audacious enough to enter random alleyways without a single care. In a country as broken as this, crime is everywhere. Only the rich are comfortable enough to be unaware of that.  </p><p>"Beat us up then! We'd love to see a scrawny little man like you try!" They laugh tauntingly. </p><p>Sigh, Soyong thinks. Talking isn't going to work then. </p><p>Well, if they can't listen to perfect reason, then...</p><p>She lifts off her gat and wraps her fingers around the pin holding her hair.</p><p>She'll just have to live up to her own bluff. </p><p>She shouts first, a fierce battle cry, then pulls off the pin, her hair falling to her shoulders, and lunges at the bandit in front of her. </p><p>He falls limply to the ground. </p><p>Soyong freezes, hand grasping the pin held in mid-swing, her lips still parted but in silence. Her brows furrow. </p><p>Huh?</p><hr/><p>Wonbeom wraps his arm around his neck first, giving it a swift twist, and the first one falls down. The second man lunges at him, arms out, and he grabs hold of it and pulls the man towards him before turning and flipping him over, his back landing with a loud thud on the ground. The third one pulls out a knife, a rusty dull-bladed one, but a threat nonetheless. Wonbeom dodges a swing to his chest and does a roundhouse kick, knocking the knife out of the bandit's hand and sends it flying towards the wall before it lands on the floor with a clunk. Being the smallest among the three, he decides to flee. </p><p>He clicks his tongue, as if mocking the last bandit's cowardice, and turns around. </p><p>He starts a little and flinches back as he comes face-to-face with the person he just saved, eyes wide with skepticism and body positioned in a fighting stance, a jade hairpin tightly gripped in one hand. </p><p>"Woah wait!" He blurts out, raising his hands up in surrender. "I mean no harm. Really! I just saved you!"</p><p>As his counterpart hesitates, he quickly attempts to sought evidence for his theory. </p><p>It's really quite obvious now that the hair is down, the length a little longer and texture seemingly softer than an average man's, the feminine slant of her jawline highlighted by the way her hair frames her face. Her lips were stained slightly red, little remnants of lip paint still clinging on to her lips after a sloppy attempt at removal. He continues his examination further up her face, noting her blemish-free skin and the way her brows are trimmed neat and clean, a sign of someone who takes great care of their appearance. </p><p>Someone with the time and money to take care of their appearance. </p><p>His gaze drifts to her hands and fingers. They were as delicate and thin as he pictured, remembering how they had pressed down on his when she had tried to snatch her pouch back. </p><p>Satisfied that his observations backed his hypothesis, he slowly starts to reach into his sleeve to retrieve the pouch.</p><p>"Look." He calms her down as she watches his movement warily. "I just want to return this. I don't want it."</p><p>He drops the pouch on the ground between them. </p><hr/><p>Soyong looks at him in confusion, her guard lowered now. </p><p>Well, not that she had any chance of winning him in a fight anyway, seeing how easily he overpowered three whole bandits.</p><p>Okay well, two and a half to be precise. But still. </p><p>"You're returning it?" She squints. "Why?"</p><p>What kind of person isn't happy to get their money back, he thinks.</p><p>"Because I don't want it?" </p><p>What kind of scammer doesn't want a pouch full of coins, she thinks.</p><p>"Yeah, I got that." She rolls her eyes. "But why?"</p><p>Gosh, why must she be so difficult? Well, if she insists.</p><p>"Because that pouch belongs to the Andong Kim and I don't have a death wish," he deadpans. </p><p>Soyong blushes. She had completely forgotten that her pouch bore her name. Does that mean that he also knows...</p><p>"You better fix up your hair if you don't want to attract unwanted attention. The streets here aren't particularly kind, especially not towards women."</p><p>She grimaces, her identity exposed. She has sneaked out in this disguise several times in the past, the only people cognizant are Hongyeon, and now this guy. Just her luck. </p><p>"Even if they're rude and brusque like you," he adds, just because.</p><p>She clicks her tongue in offence, shooting back, "That's none of your business."</p><p>She bites down on her hairpin and runs her fingers through her hair to gather the strands at the top of her head, not noticing how Wonbeom's ears turn slightly pink as he turns away to give her some privacy. She removes the hairpin from between her teeth and brings it up to her hair to secure the bun. She puts on her gat before slapping his arm, mumbling,</p><p>"Well, thanks anyway. For your help."</p><p>He turns around and replies, "You're wel-"</p><p>"<em>But." </em>She emphasises with a glare. "You didn't see me today."</p><p>He opens his mouth-</p><p>"And it'll be best if we never see each other again." She honestly can't afford anyone else finding out. If word spreads and her family catches wind of her little hobby, she'll grounded for the rest of her life. No more gambling, no more drinking, no more verbal sparring with street merchants for discounts on cute accessories. She sheds an imaginary tear at the thought. Her glare intensifies. "Understood?"</p><p>He barely manages to stop himself from rolling his eyes. His mother has taught him manners. </p><p>"I have no wish to see you again, thank you for your concern," he mocks. </p><p>"Well, good," she nods, satisfied. She puts her arms behind her back and tilts her head up, lips pouted. "Goodbye."</p><hr/><p>Wonbeom waits till she safely exits the quiet alleyway and out into the crowded the main street before starting to make a move himself. He takes a step forward, his foot landing on something, the object clinking and clattering beneath the sole of his shoe. His eyes widen in realisation as he removes his foot and urgently looks on the ground. </p><p>The words "Kim Soyong" looks up at him, all but innocent.</p><p>"Shit!"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>who's having mr queen withdrawals alr o/</p></blockquote></div></div>
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